4’ 33”

Lorraine Caputo

Lorraine Caputo

I.

In those beginning months,
a curfew swathed the city
mid-afternoon until dawn
& animals crept out of the shadows 

But it was not all silence –
forgotten birdsong greeted me come morn
& swallows swooped over tejas roofs 

But it was not all silence –
during the wee hours
dogs barked & cocks crowed on the hillsides 

II.

The curfew then began to relax,
starting later in the afternoon,
later in the dark evenings
the human sounds returning 

During the wee hours
planes flew overhead
shredding my dreams 

During those wee hours
tires sizzled on cobblestones
a shout echoed through the valley

III.

After months, the curfew wanes
the time slips, nearing 4’
the swathing silence is shredding
swallows retreat to the shadows 

Vendors’ carts rattle down streets,
their calls sound throughout the day
buses groan around corners 

… yet in this high valley’s night
silence reweaves, its fine voile seeps
into deep corners, deep folds …

Poet-translator-travel-writer Lorraine Caputo’s works appear in over 250 journals on six continents; and 17 collections of poetry – including On Galápagos Shores (dancing girl press, 2019) and the upcoming Escape to the Sea (Origami Poems Project, 2021). She journeys through Latin America, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth.